Despite stiff opposition from the Congress, the South Municipal Corporation on Wednesday cleared a 100 per cent hike in parking rates in the city as proposed by the ruling BJP.

In his last decision as Standing Committee Chairperson, Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay had stamped his approval on new rates on September 18, wherein, Rs 20 would be charged as the standard rate and a fixed a charge of Rs 100 would be levied for over five hours. The proposal was passed in the Standing Committee with a dissent note from the Congress.

As soon as the proposal was taken up by the House, Congress councillors raised anti-BJP slogans, blaming the party for burdening Delhi residents. “There are 73 lakh vehicles in Delhi — a hike is unfair to the people,” leader of the opposition Farhad Suri said, before leading a walkout.

However, with a clear majority in the 104-member House, the BJP passed the proposal. “We have kept the demands of all sides in mind. Contractors wanted to hike the fee to Rs 30, but we tried to find a middle path,” Leader of the House Subhash Arya said, adding that the Standing Committee had decided on a minimum hike despite “government pressure” for a 500 per cent increase.

According to the BJP, parking rates in the city have been hiked after more 14 years. “The implementation of the new rates will take at least two months,” Arya said.

To encourage people to park their vehicles in multi-level parking lots, the rates have remained unchanged for such parking areas at Rs 10 per hour for cars and Rs 7 per hour for two-wheelers. No extra parking fee will be charged for peak hours.